Adam Gibbs dropped his recommendation of The Sound and the Fury, so I am dropping it from the list. Mainly, because he said it might be a low point of my summer, and he is still insisting that I will love Les Miserables. So, I am replacing it with a Dean Koontz book. Well, I didn't have a lot of choices, as I had to choose a book with the same page count. Never read Koontz before, hoping it will be fast read and really keep my attention.
The corrected list:
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Taking - Dean Koontz; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins; 9,200
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs; 9,504
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote; 9,847
25. The Daybreakers - Louis L'Amour; 10,000
11 January 2012
10 January 2012
The last book and complete list
As I stated before, I am not going to read one page over 10,000 pages, so my last book must have a 153 page count. So I tried to search Amazon, but I had much difficulty searching by page count. So I went to Ebay, searched books for "153 pages," allowing for search within product description, and I got a lot of results. I sifted through them until I found something decent, and without further ado, here it is, book no. 25, and the completion of my summer reading list.
25. The Daybreakers - Louis L'Amour (153 pgs) Now it is worth nothing that this book is unique in the list, because the majority of the other books I did seek out and acquire the edition with the highest page count, and this book has editions with page counts higher than 220, but I found a 1960 edition with 153 pages, the perfect completion of the 10,000 Pages of Summer. 0 pages to go.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins; 9,200
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs; 9,504
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote; 9,847
25. The Daybreakers - Louis L'Amour; 10,000
25. The Daybreakers - Louis L'Amour (153 pgs) Now it is worth nothing that this book is unique in the list, because the majority of the other books I did seek out and acquire the edition with the highest page count, and this book has editions with page counts higher than 220, but I found a 1960 edition with 153 pages, the perfect completion of the 10,000 Pages of Summer. 0 pages to go.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins; 9,200
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs; 9,504
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote; 9,847
25. The Daybreakers - Louis L'Amour; 10,000
09 January 2012
Getting towards the end
Now, it is definitely down to the wire and time to really be picky about what books to put in. 1,624 can easily be covered by three books, and where before I was trying to think of any three books to put in just to get to the ridiculously high number of 10,000, now I don't want to waste the precious little space I have left on my list with anything I won't absolutely love.
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins (464 pgs) Robbins wrote one of my top three favorite books of all time Jitterbug Perfume, and I also really enjoyed Villa Incognito, Skinny Legs and All and others. But I have also started some of his books and lost interest halfway through and never finished. Let's hope this is one I will really enjoy. 800 pages to go.
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs (304 pgs) Not much to say about why I chose this book, I just really like Burroughs. 496 pages to go.
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (343 pgs) Not much to say about this one either. I have just always wanted to read it, and I found it once at an estate sale for a quarter. 153 pages to go.
Now here is where it gets tricky. I am going to read 10,000 this summer, and only 10,000 pages. (Of books anyway, I am not going to count website, newspaper or magazine pages.) So now, I have to find one or more books that add up to exactly 153 pages. And I am going to be honest, the first 153 page book I find, I am probably buying, no matter what.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins; 9,200
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs; 9,504
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote; 9,847
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins (464 pgs) Robbins wrote one of my top three favorite books of all time Jitterbug Perfume, and I also really enjoyed Villa Incognito, Skinny Legs and All and others. But I have also started some of his books and lost interest halfway through and never finished. Let's hope this is one I will really enjoy. 800 pages to go.
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs (304 pgs) Not much to say about why I chose this book, I just really like Burroughs. 496 pages to go.
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (343 pgs) Not much to say about this one either. I have just always wanted to read it, and I found it once at an estate sale for a quarter. 153 pages to go.
Now here is where it gets tricky. I am going to read 10,000 this summer, and only 10,000 pages. (Of books anyway, I am not going to count website, newspaper or magazine pages.) So now, I have to find one or more books that add up to exactly 153 pages. And I am going to be honest, the first 153 page book I find, I am probably buying, no matter what.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
22. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins; 9,200
23. Possible Side Effects - Augusten Burroughs; 9,504
24. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote; 9,847
08 January 2012
The "Shopping on my bookshelf" 3
These three are books that I have owned for a while and never read. I am sure I am not the only one who owns a lot of books they have never read. For me at least, every time I want to read a new book I go to the bookstore, and usually every time I go I buy more than one book. Want to read a book, buy two, read one, repeat. That means I have tons of "leftovers," books I wanted to read enough to buy them, but put them on a shelf for a later day. Here are three of those.
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard (269 Pgs) Grizzard is the author I remember my dad reading when I was a kid (well, Grizzard and Forest Gump, years before it was a movie). The name recognition has caused me to buy his books every time I have seen them at a used bookstore or thrift shop, and most of them I have read. This one I haven't yet. 1,875 pages to go.
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey (448 pgs) I have no idea what this book is, what it is about, anything about the author, etc. The only thing I know about this book is I have never been to a used bookstore or thrift shop where I haven't seen several copies for sale. So I have to make the assumption that it was once (or maybe still is) a very popular book, and it must have sold *many* copies. But for some reason, all those copies are now at a second hand stores. So, maybe this book is good enough to read once and then pass it on? 1,472 pages to go.
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin (163 pgs) Why would the cover of this book say, "From the author of Shopgirl?" Is there anyone buying this book based on Steve Martin's reputation as a novelist and not just his comedy career in general? I have to say, I love Martin's book Pure Drivel. Just the fact that someone took the time to write such silly things down on a page, and then got someone to publish it and people buy it as a legitimate book is really inspirational to me. He said something in Pure Drivel that has stuck with me more than anything in serious literature. It was talking about how to get a good agent, and I am paraphrasing here, but it says each agent has a gender. It is important to know their gender and use the appropriate pronoun for it when referring to your agent. Male agents like to be called he, and female agents prefer she. 1,264 pages to go.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard (269 Pgs) Grizzard is the author I remember my dad reading when I was a kid (well, Grizzard and Forest Gump, years before it was a movie). The name recognition has caused me to buy his books every time I have seen them at a used bookstore or thrift shop, and most of them I have read. This one I haven't yet. 1,875 pages to go.
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey (448 pgs) I have no idea what this book is, what it is about, anything about the author, etc. The only thing I know about this book is I have never been to a used bookstore or thrift shop where I haven't seen several copies for sale. So I have to make the assumption that it was once (or maybe still is) a very popular book, and it must have sold *many* copies. But for some reason, all those copies are now at a second hand stores. So, maybe this book is good enough to read once and then pass it on? 1,472 pages to go.
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin (163 pgs) Why would the cover of this book say, "From the author of Shopgirl?" Is there anyone buying this book based on Steve Martin's reputation as a novelist and not just his comedy career in general? I have to say, I love Martin's book Pure Drivel. Just the fact that someone took the time to write such silly things down on a page, and then got someone to publish it and people buy it as a legitimate book is really inspirational to me. He said something in Pure Drivel that has stuck with me more than anything in serious literature. It was talking about how to get a good agent, and I am paraphrasing here, but it says each agent has a gender. It is important to know their gender and use the appropriate pronoun for it when referring to your agent. Male agents like to be called he, and female agents prefer she. 1,264 pages to go.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
19. Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night -Lewis Grizzard; 8,125
20. The Greek - Pierre Rey; 8,573
21. The Pleasure of my Company - Steve Martin; 8,736
07 January 2012
The post Adam Gibbs 3
Surely one day someone will want to Google Adam Gibbs, and I want to make sure when they do, they find this page first. Why else would this page say his name more than his own Facebook?
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright (156 pgs) This is the book that is famous for being a full length novel and not containing a single letter "e." It is also famous for no one buying it when it came out. It survived out of curiosity for the novelty of it, but I have never heard anyone say it was a good or interesting book. But it is short enough. I am kind of leery of it though, because it is probably going to be really boring, and it is coming off of the Adam Gibbs 6, and let's face it, there is a reason I have never read Les Miserables. 3,232 pages to go.
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard (688 pgs) I know in an earlier post I said I wanted to stick to one book per author, but come on, after the Adam Gibbs 6 I deserve 688 pages of fast paced pulp fiction. Now, I know nothing of L. Ron apart from the fact he founded Scientology. I have heard his pulp fiction was quite average, but all of the books have glowing reader reviews. Of course, I have to wonder if the reviews are non-biased, but still, the concepts for each of the books I am reading seemed really interesting, and each book is fairly short, so each one should be a quick read. And for the curious, here are the L. Ron books I will be reading: Cargo of Coffins, Danger in the Dark, The Carnival of Death, Dead Men Kill, and Hostage to Death. 2,544 pages to go.
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey (400 pgs) Okay, I was wrong, there is a new Frey book I can read. And it really isn't news to me that it exists, I guess since I loved his previous three books so much, I have convinced myself that there is no way I will like the new one as much. We will see. I am sure it is great. 2,144 pages to go.
The list so far and running page count:
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright (156 pgs) This is the book that is famous for being a full length novel and not containing a single letter "e." It is also famous for no one buying it when it came out. It survived out of curiosity for the novelty of it, but I have never heard anyone say it was a good or interesting book. But it is short enough. I am kind of leery of it though, because it is probably going to be really boring, and it is coming off of the Adam Gibbs 6, and let's face it, there is a reason I have never read Les Miserables. 3,232 pages to go.
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard (688 pgs) I know in an earlier post I said I wanted to stick to one book per author, but come on, after the Adam Gibbs 6 I deserve 688 pages of fast paced pulp fiction. Now, I know nothing of L. Ron apart from the fact he founded Scientology. I have heard his pulp fiction was quite average, but all of the books have glowing reader reviews. Of course, I have to wonder if the reviews are non-biased, but still, the concepts for each of the books I am reading seemed really interesting, and each book is fairly short, so each one should be a quick read. And for the curious, here are the L. Ron books I will be reading: Cargo of Coffins, Danger in the Dark, The Carnival of Death, Dead Men Kill, and Hostage to Death. 2,544 pages to go.
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey (400 pgs) Okay, I was wrong, there is a new Frey book I can read. And it really isn't news to me that it exists, I guess since I loved his previous three books so much, I have convinced myself that there is no way I will like the new one as much. We will see. I am sure it is great. 2,144 pages to go.
The list so far and running page count:
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
16. Gadsby - Ernest Vincent Wright; 6,768
17. Pulp Fiction Selections - L. Ron Hubbard; 7,456
18. The Final Testament of the Holy Bible - James Frey; 7,856
The list continues, the Adam Gibbs 6
Have I previously mentioned Adam Gibbs's name in this? I don't know if I have or not, and if you know me, you know I don't feel like going back and reading what I have already posted to see if I have. I would much rather write a long, rambling about why I am not checking instead of actually checking. Anyway, I texted him today to see if he I should add Ulysses to the list, because he is the only person I know who has read the whole thing, and like Moby Dick, this is just one of those books I feel like I have to read, even though I feel like it will be long and boring. His reply to me actually included the phrase "tackling it when you have some time to enjoy it." Pssh. I never in my life plan to read it to enjoy. Just something to trudge through. Anyway, he gave me some suggestions to add to the list, so here ya go. And even though I said I would limit each entry to 3 books, I am doubling it here as to not devote two blog entries to Adam Gibbs. And I am not going to go through these and give the reason why I am reading each one like I do in the others because I already told you, the only reason I am reading any of them is because Adam Gibbs said to. Eh, scratch that. I could at least give you the reason Adam Gibbs gave me.
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (768 pgs) Gibbs said, "What are your criteria for the 10,000 pages? Does it have to be respected literature? You could knock out the Dostoyevsky canon. He wrote long books but they were fairly quick reads." Well, I am trying to stick with one book per author, and the copy I found of The Idiot was about 300 pages longer than the copy I found of Crime and Punishment, so here it is. 5,920 pages to go.
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner (464 pgs) Gibbs said, "This semester I'm taking a Faulkner class. I'm trying to get ahead and so far The Sound and the Fury is a fairly decent quick read." Yeah, Gibbs is going for a second masters degree right now, over achiever. 5,456 pages to go.
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (209 pgs) Gibbs said, "If you haven't read it yet, put Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart on your list. Only a couple hundred pages but it's an awesome story and you could get through it in an afternoon. 5,247 pages to go.
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris (272 pgs) Gibbs said, "Everything ever written by David Sedaris." I said, "Who?" Gibbs said, "You aren't familiar with David Sedaris? Start with Me Talk Pretty One Day." And at this point I will have effectively reached the halfway point. Hopefully it will be the end of June, 4th of July at the latest. 4,975 pages to go.
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (1376 pgs) Gibbs said, "Ever read Les Mis?" 3,599 pages to go.
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft (211 pgs) "Cool. And read a book of Lovecraft short stories. They're cheesy fantastic." 3,388 pages to go.
And that is the end of the Adam Gibbs section of the summer, so here is the list up to this point with running page count.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (768 pgs) Gibbs said, "What are your criteria for the 10,000 pages? Does it have to be respected literature? You could knock out the Dostoyevsky canon. He wrote long books but they were fairly quick reads." Well, I am trying to stick with one book per author, and the copy I found of The Idiot was about 300 pages longer than the copy I found of Crime and Punishment, so here it is. 5,920 pages to go.
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner (464 pgs) Gibbs said, "This semester I'm taking a Faulkner class. I'm trying to get ahead and so far The Sound and the Fury is a fairly decent quick read." Yeah, Gibbs is going for a second masters degree right now, over achiever. 5,456 pages to go.
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (209 pgs) Gibbs said, "If you haven't read it yet, put Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart on your list. Only a couple hundred pages but it's an awesome story and you could get through it in an afternoon. 5,247 pages to go.
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris (272 pgs) Gibbs said, "Everything ever written by David Sedaris." I said, "Who?" Gibbs said, "You aren't familiar with David Sedaris? Start with Me Talk Pretty One Day." And at this point I will have effectively reached the halfway point. Hopefully it will be the end of June, 4th of July at the latest. 4,975 pages to go.
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (1376 pgs) Gibbs said, "Ever read Les Mis?" 3,599 pages to go.
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft (211 pgs) "Cool. And read a book of Lovecraft short stories. They're cheesy fantastic." 3,388 pages to go.
And that is the end of the Adam Gibbs section of the summer, so here is the list up to this point with running page count.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
10. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 4,080
11. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner; 4,544
12. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe; 4,753
13. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris; 5,025
14. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo; 6,401
15. A Collection of H.P. Lovecraft Short Stories - H.P. Lovecraft; 6,612
06 January 2012
The list, books 7-9
I need to start picking longer books. These 3 combined are going to get me 704 pages. Considering that two of the books in my first set of 3 have over 600 pages, plowing through 3 books and only getting 704 pages seems kind of disheartening, but it really shouldn't. A page is a page. It doesn't matter if I read a 10,000 page book, or a hundred 100 page books, it will all take the same time. But I do think that reading a bunch of shorter books would be faster than one long one, because I have the attention span of a juvenile wombat. And if you have ever tried to get one of those to pay attention to you more than five minutes you know it is a losing battle. Now, this set of three is all murder mysteries, which may make this a long stretch for me, because they honestly are not my favorite books, but maybe it will work for me.
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman (166 pgs) When I lived in Lubbock, I had a friend call me from the cigar store he worked at to tell me Kinky Friedman was there. So I rushed over with my wife and a fellow named Stegall and got to meet him. And that encounter led to a phone call from a kind of annoyed dad that night to inform me that he saw "(me) and Kinky Friedman on the TV, with (our) arms around each other both holding big cigars." While we were there Kinky's sidekick Little Jewford told someone "Kinky will sign anything for ya" which of course made me want to go home and grab one of my Kinky books to get signed. The reason I didn't take one with me was because my friend who ran the cigar store told me that last time Kinky was in he was selling his new book, and I didn't want to be "that guy" who brings his old books to a book signing when the author is pushing his new one. So Stegall, Holly and I ran to a nearby book store to purchase Kinky books, took them back and got them signed. But this book isn't the one he signed for me. I read that one a long time ago. Which I know now makes this huge long story seem kind of useless and like a waste of time, but, eh, once I get started rambling... 7,226 pages to go.
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman (235 pgs) I went to an auction one time and bought a box of books because it had a Jimmy Buffett book on the top (A Pirate Looks at Fifty), but every other book in the box was called Murder in (Some Washington, D.C. location). Apparently President Truman's daughter wrote a lot of books about people getting murdered in D.C., and I own them all. Yay. So I feel like I ought to give them a shot, because if I like them, I am set. So I Googled to see which one was written first and it is this one, so I am reading it first. 6,991 pages to go.
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay (303 pgs) Got this in a bargain bin day after Christmas in 2010. I like the show so surely I will like the book. It does kind of bug me that I will be reading a book in a series without reading the first book, but I have seen all the TV shows, surely I will be able figure out what is going on. 6,688 pages to go.
Full list/running page count
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman (166 pgs) When I lived in Lubbock, I had a friend call me from the cigar store he worked at to tell me Kinky Friedman was there. So I rushed over with my wife and a fellow named Stegall and got to meet him. And that encounter led to a phone call from a kind of annoyed dad that night to inform me that he saw "(me) and Kinky Friedman on the TV, with (our) arms around each other both holding big cigars." While we were there Kinky's sidekick Little Jewford told someone "Kinky will sign anything for ya" which of course made me want to go home and grab one of my Kinky books to get signed. The reason I didn't take one with me was because my friend who ran the cigar store told me that last time Kinky was in he was selling his new book, and I didn't want to be "that guy" who brings his old books to a book signing when the author is pushing his new one. So Stegall, Holly and I ran to a nearby book store to purchase Kinky books, took them back and got them signed. But this book isn't the one he signed for me. I read that one a long time ago. Which I know now makes this huge long story seem kind of useless and like a waste of time, but, eh, once I get started rambling... 7,226 pages to go.
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman (235 pgs) I went to an auction one time and bought a box of books because it had a Jimmy Buffett book on the top (A Pirate Looks at Fifty), but every other book in the box was called Murder in (Some Washington, D.C. location). Apparently President Truman's daughter wrote a lot of books about people getting murdered in D.C., and I own them all. Yay. So I feel like I ought to give them a shot, because if I like them, I am set. So I Googled to see which one was written first and it is this one, so I am reading it first. 6,991 pages to go.
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay (303 pgs) Got this in a bargain bin day after Christmas in 2010. I like the show so surely I will like the book. It does kind of bug me that I will be reading a book in a series without reading the first book, but I have seen all the TV shows, surely I will be able figure out what is going on. 6,688 pages to go.
Full list/running page count
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
7. Greenwich Killing Time - Kinky Friedman; 2,774
8. Murder in the White House - Margaret Truman; 3,009
9. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay; 3,312
05 January 2012
Continuing the list
So, I figured this adding 3 books a post thing sounded like a good idea, so that's how I will continue, at least for now. So here we go.
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick (231 pgs) I have never read Philip K. Dick, and honestly, the only reason I have heard of him is because I have some friends who talk about him with me, but talk about him in a way that makes it very obvious that they think I know who he is, and can contribute to the conversation. And I usually just say, "uh huh," "yeah," and "good point." So I read the summaries of 3 or 4 of Dick's books and decided this one fit my interest the most. 8,227 pages to go.
5. Duma Key - Stephen King (611 pgs) I have never read anything by Stephen King. ANYTHING. And I don't know why, but for some reason when I got an Amazon.com gift card for Christmas, I tried to see how many Stephen King books I could get for $25, because that is how much the gift card was for, and how much I had to spend to get free shipping. And of the 5 I got, this one was the longest, and we all know the point of this thing quantity, not quality. 7,616 pages to go.
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda (224 pgs) I read Alda's Never Have Your Dog Stuffed a few years ago, and loved it. So, I am reading the follow up. 7,392 pages to go.
And I realize posting these 3 at a time would put the books out of order, so at the bottom of each post I will put the books in order and with running page count.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick (231 pgs) I have never read Philip K. Dick, and honestly, the only reason I have heard of him is because I have some friends who talk about him with me, but talk about him in a way that makes it very obvious that they think I know who he is, and can contribute to the conversation. And I usually just say, "uh huh," "yeah," and "good point." So I read the summaries of 3 or 4 of Dick's books and decided this one fit my interest the most. 8,227 pages to go.
5. Duma Key - Stephen King (611 pgs) I have never read anything by Stephen King. ANYTHING. And I don't know why, but for some reason when I got an Amazon.com gift card for Christmas, I tried to see how many Stephen King books I could get for $25, because that is how much the gift card was for, and how much I had to spend to get free shipping. And of the 5 I got, this one was the longest, and we all know the point of this thing quantity, not quality. 7,616 pages to go.
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda (224 pgs) I read Alda's Never Have Your Dog Stuffed a few years ago, and loved it. So, I am reading the follow up. 7,392 pages to go.
And I realize posting these 3 at a time would put the books out of order, so at the bottom of each post I will put the books in order and with running page count.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett; 256
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville; 870
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule; 1,542
4. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick; 1,773
5. Duma Key - Stephen King; 2,384
6. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself - Alan Alda; 2,608
04 January 2012
Starting the list
Even though I am just about 5 months away from the massive undertaking, I am starting the preparations. Mainly, the list will consist of two categories, books I want to read, and books I feel I should read. All of the books, however, will be books I have not read before. That last rule makes me kind of sad, because that means it will be a summer without reading some of my favorite authors (James Frey, Douglas Adams, etc.) Of course it is possible for Frey to release another book before school starts up in August, but I am pretty sure Adams won't.
Now on to this list (which is in the order that I will be reading them, because it will really bug me not to have a completed list in order before I start.) And this isn't set in stone, I can change my mind anytime I want. Like a woman.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett (256 pgs) This book I bought in a bargain bin about a year ago, and I know nothing about it except it is written by Jimmy Buffett and is about a pig. But, it should be a fun and easy read, a warm up before I have to read Moby Dick, which is going to be horrible. 9,744 pages to go.
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville (614 pgs) I hate this book. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I have tried to read it before, and never gotten past a page and a half. But it is the literary equivalent of my Everest (my white whale if you will; wink wink, nudge nudge). It drives me crazy that I have never read it, and I think finally reading it will give me a huge sense of satisfaction when I am done. I put it at the beginning so I can just get it over with, it won't be looming over my head and taking the fun out of this for me. (One time I put it in the bathroom, thinking even if it took me 10 years, if I read it a little bit every day I would finally have it read. That was the year I learned how interesting ingredients were on shampoo bottles.) 9,130 pages to go.
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule (672 pgs) This one kind of falls into the wants and needs to read categories. Besides comedies, my favorite types of books are true crime, and Ann Rule is my favorite true crime writer. (I have a personal vendetta against Patricia Cornwell, and even though I have been told it is extremely petty, I won't read her books. I have heard she is good, but I refuse to read them. Even after I heard O.J. Simpson's glowing endorsement, it wasn't enough to bring me to read it.) But, like I said, I love her true crime books, but never read the one that put her on the map. 8,458 pages to go.
Now on to this list (which is in the order that I will be reading them, because it will really bug me not to have a completed list in order before I start.) And this isn't set in stone, I can change my mind anytime I want. Like a woman.
1. Swine Not? - Jimmy Buffett (256 pgs) This book I bought in a bargain bin about a year ago, and I know nothing about it except it is written by Jimmy Buffett and is about a pig. But, it should be a fun and easy read, a warm up before I have to read Moby Dick, which is going to be horrible. 9,744 pages to go.
2. Moby Dick; or The Whale - Herman Melville (614 pgs) I hate this book. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I have tried to read it before, and never gotten past a page and a half. But it is the literary equivalent of my Everest (my white whale if you will; wink wink, nudge nudge). It drives me crazy that I have never read it, and I think finally reading it will give me a huge sense of satisfaction when I am done. I put it at the beginning so I can just get it over with, it won't be looming over my head and taking the fun out of this for me. (One time I put it in the bathroom, thinking even if it took me 10 years, if I read it a little bit every day I would finally have it read. That was the year I learned how interesting ingredients were on shampoo bottles.) 9,130 pages to go.
3. The Stranger Beside Me - Ann Rule (672 pgs) This one kind of falls into the wants and needs to read categories. Besides comedies, my favorite types of books are true crime, and Ann Rule is my favorite true crime writer. (I have a personal vendetta against Patricia Cornwell, and even though I have been told it is extremely petty, I won't read her books. I have heard she is good, but I refuse to read them. Even after I heard O.J. Simpson's glowing endorsement, it wasn't enough to bring me to read it.) But, like I said, I love her true crime books, but never read the one that put her on the map. 8,458 pages to go.
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